Online gameplay and other features return after more than three weeks of downtime

Sony has begun to restore online gameplay and other services to the PlayStation Network and Station.com after more than three weeks of downtime.

PlayStation 3 users are required to download and install a mandatory firmware update and change passwords, with the roll-out of services beginning in America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

PSN and Sony Online Entertainment's Station.com have been down since April 20 following an attack that left over 100 million accounts compromised

We are taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident, and are making consumer data protection a full time, company-wide commitment

Kaz Hirai, Sony

"I can't thank you enough for your patience and support during this time," said Sony boss Kaz Hirai. "We know even the most loyal customers have been frustrated by this process and are anxious to use their Sony products and services again. We are taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident, and are making consumer data protection a full time, company-wide commitment.

"While we understand the importance of getting our services back online, we did not rush to do so at the expense of extensively and aggressively testing our enhanced security measures. Our consumers' safety remains our number one priority.

"We want to assure our customers that their personal information is being protected with some of the best security technologies available today, so that everyone can feel comfortable enjoying all that PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have to offer."

As well as being able to play games online, users can also access Home, PSN friends lists, trophies and chat, as well as third-party services such as Hulu, Netflix and VidZone.

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After installing and trying to log in I _did_ get a "your password has expired - click here" screen but that led nowhere. Next time I tried to log in again (10 secs later), it was back to the old "In Maintenance" message. Puzzling.

Kurtis the secondary OS feature was removed which is why Hotz hacked it. Not the other way around. The thing that really gets me is that Sony has admitted that they did not know of the holes in their systems but they were known...isn't that a contrary statement?

My PSN is back up already and yes I did have to download a firmware update and assign a new password. But friends functions are working as I got messages from my PSN friends. Hopefully this marks the beginning of the end of the PSN saga